This is in response to a letter from Lewiston Mayor, Robert Macdonald, “Lewiston a struggling city” (March 31).
Once again, the mayor has demonstrated that he is exceptionally talented at hurling insults at Lewiston’s legislative delegation. Usually, we take it on the chin, but sometimes a response is necessary.
Not once have I seen Mayor Macdonald publicly thank Lewiston legislators for our recent Herculean effort to double the state’s homestead exemption (which the governor is proposing to eliminate for everyone under 65) that helped offset the majority of local property tax increases for residents.
Not once have I seen the mayor acknowledge that we negotiated a substantial increase in General Assistance reimbursements from the state to lessen the program’s impact on local property taxpayers.
As a native Mainer and Bates College graduate, one who came to Lewiston on a financial need-based scholarship, I am tired of Mayor Macdonald trash talking Bates students one day, then sending a friendly “welcome back — spend your money here” letter the next.
I am tired of the mayor saying one group of immigrants is OK, but this other group is not welcome and illegal.
He has forgotten the Macdonald and Libby families were immigrants to this country not long ago. Scapegoating certain groups of immigrants over a General Assistance program that costs the average Lewiston property taxpayer less than a $4 cup of coffee each year isn’t being frugal — it is foolish.
Sen. Nate Libby, D-Lewiston
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